Tempo, the stylish Italian restaurant owned by Henry Togna in Curzon St, has sadly been sold. Inspired by the restaurant he admired most, the River Cafe, and with a Japanese chef, (Yoshi Yamada, who won the Barilla Pasta Championships in 2012), Tempo became a haven for those who enjoyed its inventive and relatively inexpensive food, its beautiful Rococo upstairs bar and the invariable presence of the owner whose genuine charm and patent good nature (in an industry somewhat lacking in both), made one want to return time after time.

A delicious salad tiede made for a vegetarian friend

The staff were very good too - elegant and friendly (and that includes my daughter; Kei, who worked there for six months and loved it). Although Yoshi last year returned to Japan, his successor carried on his stylish cooking while the waiting staff continued to perfect their art so that the experience got only better and better.

It's a great pity that it has been sold, and we can only hope that Henry decide to will spread his magic elsewhere.

Ananda Ledoux and Angela Altini

Click here for some a selection of photos taken at Tempo over the years

No medium has yet been devised for the translation of life into language, nor can any words recall the dazzling fluidity of days. Single yet fixed in sequence, they fall like the shaft of a cataract into time and through it.